ing
effect. It was in her service that the man was toiling in western
Canada.

"Well," she said, rising with some abruptness, "it's time we got off.
I'd better see if Muriel is ready."

CHAPTER XVIII

BLAND MAKES A SACRIFICE

Sylvia was sitting by the hearth in Ethel West's drawing-room, her
neatly shod feet on the fender, her low chair on the fleecy rug, and
she made a very dainty and attractive picture. She felt the cold and
hated discomfort of any kind, though it was characteristic of her that
she generally succeeded in avoiding it. Ethel sat near by, watching
her with calmly curious eyes, for Sylvia was looking pensive. Mrs.
Lansing was talking to Stephen West on the opposite side of the large
room.

"How is Edgar getting on?" Sylvia asked. "I suppose you hear from him
now and then."

Ethel guessed where the question led and responded with blunt
directness.

"Doesn't George write to you?"

"Not often. Herbert has just got a letter, but there was very little
information in it; George is not a brilliant correspondent. I thought
Edgar might have written by the same mail."

"As it happens, he did," said Ethel. "He describes the cold as fierce,
and gives some interesting details of his sensations when the warmth
first comes back to his half-frozen hands or limbs; then he adds a
vivid account of a blizzard that George and he nearly got lost in."

"Things of that kind make an impression on a new-comer," Sylvia
languidly remarked. "One gets used to them after a while. Did he say
anything else?"

"There was an enthusiastic description of a girl he has met; he
declares she's a paragon. This, of course, is nothing new, but it's a
little astonishing that he doesn't seem to contemplate making love to
her in his usual haphazard manner. She seems to have inspired him with
genuine respect."

"I can't think of any girl who's likely to do so."

"He gives her name--Flora Grant."

Sylvia betrayed some interest.

"I knew her--I suppose she is a little less impossible than the rest.
But go on."

"One gathers that George is having an anxious time; Edgar goes into
some obscure details about crops and cattle-raising. Then he hints at
some exciting adventures they have had as a result of supporting a body
that's trying to close the hotels."

This was what Sylvia had been leading up to. She agreed with Herbert
that it was most unlikely George would take any part in such
proceedings without some pr